Knowles System

Bankruptcy and Foreclosures

Personal bankruptcy rates in the late 1990s (peaking at 1.4 million in 1998) soared to nearly ten times the rate of the Great Depression.
At the end of last year, U.S. households had $10.4 trillion in outstanding debt, and one out of every 73 filed for bankruptcy.
Bankruptcy laws have recently changed and it is now more difficult to erase debt through chapter 7 bankruptcy filing.
- Credit card counseling is mandatory.
- You can no longer completely eliminate all debt.
- Bankruptcy stays on a credit report for 7 years.
Foreclosures are up 7% in July over June to 67,000 per month.
Nationally 550,000 homes were foreclosed in 2004 and in 2005 over 750,000 homes are expected to be foreclosed.
Over 50% of all foreclosures on homes in this country are the result of a premature death in the family.